MapComparer help

MapComparer is one of the components of map portal Virtual Map Collection. It serves for viewing maps from various sources, not limited to Virtual Map Collection. It can display maps provided via WMS or Zoomify and directly uploade images.

APPLICATION DESCRIPTIONImage 1 shows the application in basic state. You can the the main toolbar (see Image 2) and the map window underneath. The main toolbar control the application as a whole, while each map window has its own toolbar affecting only the map window in question.

Image 1

MAIN TOOLBAR
The first two icons serve for loading and saving application state. The next three icons control application layout. They set the appication to show 1, 2 or 4 map windows (see Image 11 for an example of two-window layout).

ADD MAP LAYER
With this tool user can add map layers to the map window. Each layer represents a resource such as a WMS or a Zoomify map. Users can select from a set of predefined layers or define their own layers

Image 4 - new layer dialog

MAP WINDOW SYNCHRONIZATION
This function links the positions and zoom levels of two or more map windows. Any change in position or zoom in one window is then reflected in the linked windows.

- synchronization is off,

- synchronization is on.

DISTANCE AND AREA MEASUREMENT
Selecting one of the measurement tools switches the window into drawing mode and changes the toolbar to drawing tools - Delete last point and End measuring (see Image 9). Clicks in map window add new points and the notification shows measured distance or area of current drawing

Image 9 - drawing toolbar

Clicking the End measuring icon switches window back to normal mode.

Drawn shapes stay in the map after measurment ends. They can be deleted by Clean drawing tool.

LAYER LIST
Each map window has a list of layers connected to the window. This list can be toggled by Toggle layer list tool. From the list layers can be turned on/off, their trasparency can be adjust (by moving the slider under layer name) and they can also be removed from the window altogether (by clicking the icon).